Machine for splicing cables



Nov-- 1, 19 P. EUFINGER ETAL 38 CHINE FOR SPLICING' CABLES s Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 28. 1931 pm .ea wqu hO W mmm m wEd Mm m m m mm M Q P 0 w Nov. 1, 1932-] P. EUFINGER ET AL CHINE FOR SPLIC-ING CABLES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 28. 1931 rm 0 r m m WW aW d a W. q

5. 2 Z l/ v y 0U f 0 4 2 m ,M L F C M? After/2y P. EUFINGER ET AL momma FOR srmcme CABLES 3 Sheets-$heet 3 Filed May 28, 1931 8 PH 6 3 WWW mam H 7. Je MW p. 0 0 G meme 1, 1932 UNITED STAT-as m orrre a wrmmnm comma, or

monmn sea srmcme'cn Application fled Iain, 198i. enial lie. tififim and in Genny June 16, 1980.

The invent-ion relates to an im roved machine for splicing cables. Machines of this type known up to the present show the drawback, that they will work too slowly, being in many, respects too inconvenient, in particular the handling of the known machines inside of the cable pit is peculiarly trouble some because of their size and unwieldiness. With the known types of machines the dem vice for the splicing of the cable strands consisted of so-calledwinding hooks, into which were inserted the ends of the wires to be spliced, after the prior removal of, the insulation by hand. The splicing'is efiected by turningthe winding hooks. After a few revolutions the ends of the splicing portions were torn ofi by the said winding hooks.

T he throwing out of the spliced wires and the covering by means of the paper rolls serving as an insulation was effected automatically and at such a speed that" the operator in attendance had nochance of making out, whether or not the splicing was carried out properly. There was the danger, that an insuflicientor fragile splicing was hidden by the insulating tube, without the operator being able to notice this deficiency. The mounting of theknown machines besides, was very circumstantial for the handling thereof, since the machines were secured by stirrups to the cable and owing to their own weight and that of the stirrups they had no sufiicient support in view of the considerable forces applied during the operation.

The machine according to the invention obviates the drawbacks of the lmown machines, in that it will execute the several steps of operation quickly and neatly. In ad- 40 dition the operator is able to supervise each single working step. The mounting of the machine according to the invention is e'ffected in a safe manner. The main advantage of the machine according to the invention consists in that the ends of the wires to be spliced will be stripped of their insulation by a common device after having been inserted into the machine, so

that as already stated above, the tiresome removal of the insulation on each single wire is wholly dispensed with. a

' The automatic pulling over of the paper tubes is obviated in the machine according to the invention since this operation will 3 easily give rise to trouble and a control of the finished splice is only possible, if the said tubes or rolls or sleeves are pulled over i by hand.

-'A further advantage of the invention conca sists in that the ends of the wires introduced into the machine are cut to a certain length, while the removal of the insulation will take placelater on. Thereupon the splicing of the ends of the wires is carried through. an

vAfter the splice is finished the spliced portions are cut to a'definite length.

A further advantage of the invention is to be seen in the simple construction of the device serving for cutting 0d the spliced por- 7o tions. Said device is approached towards the cable and operated for cutting by actuating a single lever only. It is "suitable to move the said lever in both directions, once for approaching the device to the cable and in the other. direction for the purpose of actuating the said device.

A considerable advantage otthe invention consists in the steps of adjusting the machine in respect of the cable. In this manner it is possible to distribute the various splicing points of the many pair of strands of the cable uniformly over a distinct length of the cable,'so' that a relatively slight thickening of the cable at the splicing spot will occur. W On account of the adjusting device according to the invention the machine is adapted to be moved vertically and parallelly to the cable. Owing to a special advantage of the inven tion the said machine may be raised or lowered besides.

According to a-further feature of the invention the machine rests upon a frame, which is secured within the cable well by means of tensioning devices. The said frame will require a relatively small space and it can be secured extraordinarily safely within thecable well, ensuring a reliable operation of the machine.

in I

Figures 4 to -6 show details of the mounting a frame, constituting a variation of a portion of the frame represented in F i res 1 to 3.

The machine 7 to 10.

The mounting of the machine will now be proper is illustrate in Figures described. The frame illustrated in Figure 1 in plan and in Fi ures 2 and 3 in side elevation consists of t erails 1 and 2 secured within the cable well vertically to the cable, and of the bars'lO and 11 displaceably arranged on said rails. The rails l and 2 are placed under tension by screwing out the screw bolts 3 to 6 within the cable well. The cable rests upon the rails and in a given case it can be bound to said rails.

The bars 10 and 11 respectively, running thus parallelly to the cable, serve for the guiding of the splicing machine in the right or left direction as described hereinafter. The bars 10 and 11 are rigidly connected with one another by means of transverse members 7, in the center of which are provided screws 8 and 9, serving for the fi'xing. Preferably the rails 1 and 2 consist of tubes having a rectangular cross-section, the said screws 8 and 9 are suitably provided with heads, as shown by part 14 in Figure 1. When ti htening the nuts the opposite sides of the head are forced towards and against the walls of the said tubes 1 and 2, so that a secure connection is effected between the bars 10,11 and 1, 2 respectively. The connection between the tensioning screws and the tubes is suitably effected by means of insert members 15, riveted to the tubes 1 and 2 and provided with a. threaded hole for the reception of the bolts.

As stated above the machine is adapted to be dis laced parallelly to the cable. It is prefera le to provide oneof the bars 10 or 11 with notches in order to easily effect a displacement by a certain amount, rendering possible in consequence an alwa s equal shifting of the splicin spots. In igure 3 balls 12 are shown, w ich belong to an arrangement of notches provided on the splicing machine.

With the arrangement according to Figures 1 to 3 the machine is adapted to be displaced verticall and parallelly to the cable in the plane the frame. A further arrangement is represented in Figures 4 to 6 rendering it possible to lift the splicing ma-- chine out of the saidframe and to displace that the rails. 1 and 2 possess a .U-shape cross-section. The bars 10 and llcarrying the machine are connected by way of a spe cial arrangement, shown in section inFigures 4 and and in'plan in Figure 6. The bars and 11 are connected with one another b means of transverse members, of which t e left one in Figure 5 is designated by 16. .A corresponding transverse member isarranged at the right hand side of the bars 10 and 11 and it is connected to the bar 2 by an arrangement similar to that illustrated in Figures 4 to 6. The transverse memben-lfi carries a nut 17 through which one of the spindles, 24 24 is journaled in the bearing block 23 and is screwed. The said spindle is turned bymeans of a crank 25. The bearing block 23' is pivotally arranged on the bolt 19 so that a swinging in the plane passing through the bars 10 and 11 is rendered possible. The bolt 19 is carried by a bearing block 18, which is displaceably arranged on the bar 1 andcan be fixed thereon. The

placement is rendered im ossible. The fixa- I tion. in respect of a turnlng of the block or support- 23 receivin the spindle 24 is effected by means of t e handledfnut 26 being tightened. It follows .from this illustration that the bars 10 and 11 may be raised or lowered by operating the crank 25 and a cor-' responding crank provided on the right side, and that an inclination of the plane passing through the bars 10 and 11 after the release of the handled nut 26 is rendered possible.

After themounting and the adjustment of the splicing machine in respect of the cable has been described, the machine proper is now to be explained with the aid of Figures 7 to 10.

A portion of the machine is formed by the bed 27 arranged on the bars 10 and 11 parallelly displaceable in respect of the cable. On the bed 27 is displaceably arranged a carriage or slide 34, carrying the winding tongues30 to 33. The carriage 34 can be displaced vertically to the cable. Bolts 28 and 29 secured to the bed 27 serve as guiding means. The sleeves 35 and 36 form part of the carriage 34. Besides the winding tongues the machine is fitted with two additional devices to be operated by hand, serv ing for cutting off the strands or the spliced spots respectively.

One of the cutting devices consisting of the length, and it is arranged on the carriage 34.v

The second cutting means comprising the knives 39 and 40 is journaled in the bed 27 of the machine and servesfor cutting ofi the finished splicings. This second cutting means is adapted. to be let down and prior to its operation it is caused to approach the wires. This cutting means is illustrated in Figure 10 in both its positions. The 08ition shown. in hatched lines correspon s to the position of rest or inoperative position. Prior to its. operation the arrangement, is shifted to the position shown in full, lines. As follows from Figures 7 and 10, the cu device crn be swung about the-bolts 41 en 42 mounted in the bed 27.

For the purpose of operatin filthe machine three handles are provided. e handle 43 serves for 'actuatingthe splicing device, the

' handle 44 for manipulating the cutting device for the protruding wire ends and the handle 45 for operating the cutting device for the spliced portions.

The operation of the machine according to the inventionis described hereinafter.

After the bars 10 and 11 are removed into the correct position in respect of the cable, the bed 27 is fixed on the barsIO and 11 by tightening the screw 46.

It'is suitable to choose such a position of the bed that the ball 12 will drop into a notch on the bar 1'1 (confer Figure The machine represented in the drawings is adapted for the simultaneoussplicing of four air of strands of wire or the like. There ore eight wires must thus be placed into the machine. The first two wires are passed through the opening 47 and the next pair of wires through the openings 43 to 50. Here the winding tongues 30 to 33 are at first'opened and the carriage 34 is shifted. towards the front as far as possible (see the re resents tion in dotted lines in Figure 9 Each winding tongue consists of two shanks, of which the lower one is stationary while the upper one is adapted to be turned up. The said winding tongues carry out two operations, namely the removal of the insulation and the splicing. The knife-edges 51 and 52 (Figure 9) of the winding tongues consist of steel and are exchangeable. Each edge is provided with two recesses, into which thewires are placed. In order to render possible the adjustment to difierent thickness of the wires, the upper jaw or edge 51 may be adjusted by means or" the screw 53. Additional screws 54 and 55 serve for securing the be held together mclosed position.

By placing the individual wires in guid mggrooves, of which one in Fi re 7 is designated by 57, said wires will the} same time into the winding tongues.

The ends ofthe wires are held fast by meansof s rin s for instance 58 'rovided on the fronh of th p the operator frombecoming hurt by the said springs, the latter are covered by a protective metal sheet 59. The latteris suitably of.U -shape (see Figure 9) and provided with transverse slots at the places in which the holding springs are arranged.

The second workingstep comprises the closing of the tour winding tongues 30 to 33.

The third operation consists in the cutting ofi of the wire ends placed into the machineto asuitable length, which will not interfere with the subsequent working steps.

on operating the handle 44 the knife 38 is displaced towards the stationary knife 37 so that the remaining ends of all eight strands protruding from the machine are cut ed. in order to keep the force to be exerted on the handle 44 within reasonable limits even if stron strands of cable are used, the individua cutting edges of the knives 38 are arranged in staggered relation to each other,

ensuring that one wire after the other is being cut off. After the release of the handle 44 the knife 38 will return under the action of the springltiQ into its inoperative position. I

Thefourt working step consists in providin for the removal of the insulation.

.lFor t at purpose the carriage 34 is pulled following manner? By means of the crank 43 the gear wheel 31 is driven, which later meshes with the pinions 62 and 63 rigidly mounted on the shafts of the winding tongues 31 and 32. The pinions 64 and 65 of the winding tongues are driven b way of the ears 66 and 67. The ratio 0 transmission etween the gear 61 and the pinions is so chosen, that during a full revolution of the gear 61 the pinions will carry out so many full revolutions as will be required for carrying out the splicing. In the inoperative position of the crank43 the gear wheel 61 is positivel locked. by means of anotch or catch, w iich latter, as will be seen from igure 9, comprises a ball under spring action,

which ball in its position of rest will drop into a recess of the gear wheel 61. The spring casing 68 is sunk into the casing 69 of the machine. In operation the device is suitplaced at e carriage 34. In order to save. l

ably located so that the opening of the said ton ues and the introduction of the wires can e carried out easily. a

The fifthworking step consists of the actuation of the handle 45. The latter can be moved into two directions, namely at first it said cutting device is swung about the bolts.

41 and 42. An operation of the cutting knives during this movement is not as yet possible, since the lever 41 is guided along the face 7 3 of the cast body. When the knives 39 and 40 have reached the proper position in respect of the wires, that is to say, when the parts to be spliced lie already in the recesses of the knives, the lever 41 will engage the stop 74. At the same time the lever 41 leaves the face 73, so that it can be moved now towards the left hand side against the action of the spring 75. During this movement the knife 40 is displaced in respect of the stationary knife- 39, so that the spliced parts are cut off, that is to say in succession, since both the knife 40 and the knife 38 possess knife-edges arranged in staggered relation to each other. When releasing the handle 45 the lever 71 under the action of the spring 7 5 will move towards the right side at first and subsequently to the top in its inoperativeposition in consequence of the gravity of the cutting device.

The splicings are now finished and it is I only necessary now to pull the insulating tubes, which were stripped over the strands of one end of the cable already prior to the introduction of the wires in the machine, over the spliced portions in order to insulate the latter. 7

The making of the next splice is carried out in the same manner. After a number of splices have been finished the bed 27 will be displaced parallelly to the cable on the bars 10 and 11 either to the right or left hand side up to the next catch on the bar 11, in order to prevent thecable from growing too thick'at the respective place. A further distribution of the individual splices can be effected through raising or lowering the machine. As described. above the splicing machine according to the invention can be brought into any desired position in respect of the cable, so that no longer as was customary up to the present-time, the individual wires are passed to the machine, but that the machine is approached to the wires.

The various features of the invention are summarizedin the appended claims.

We claim:

1. Cable splicing machine of the character described comprisingin combination means for placing the wires into the machine, winding tongues having means for removing the insulation from said wires prior to splicing,

gear means for driving the winding tongues and locking means for locking the gear driven by said driving means in a definite position, said locking means consisting of a ball catch having a spring casing situated in the cas-.

for placing the wires into the said machine, I

common means for removing the insulation from said wires prior to splicing, means for cutting the wires introduced into the machine to a handy length prior to removing the insulation therefrom, means for holding the wires until they are cut off, said means being arranged in front of said cutting means, and a protective cover over said holding means.

3. Cable splicing machine of the character described comprising in combination means for placing the wiresinto the said machine, common means for removing the insulation from said wires prior to splicing, a cutting device serving'for cutting the finished spliced portions and adapted to be lowered, and means for approaching said cutting means to the wires only after removal of the insulation and after splicing.

Cable splicing machine of the character described comprising in combination means for placing the wires into the said machine, common means for removin the insulation from said wires prior to sp icing, a cutting device serving for cutting the finished spliced portions, and means movable in two directions vertically to one another and adapted to actuate said cutting means, which latter is approached to the wires in one direction and caused to be operated by moving said means in the op osite direction.

5. Cable splicing machine of the character described comprising in combination means for placing the wires into the said machine, common means for removing the insulation fromfsaid' wires prior to splicing, a cutting device serving for cutting the finished spliced portions and means movable in two directions vertically to one another andv causing the cutting device to swing around an axis being parallel to the cable.

6. Cable splicin machine of the character described comprislng in combination means for placing the wires into the said machines, common means for removing the insulation from said wires prior to splicing, a cutting device serving for cutting the finished spliced portions and means for locking the said outting-device until the latter is approached to the wires.

7. Cable splicing machine of the character described comprising in combination means for placing the wires into the said machine, common means for removing the insulation aaeaeea mom said prior splicing a cutting device, locki ii g i neans for said cutting device and a guide for said driving means provided on the frame of the machine and actuating said locking means.

8. liable splicing machine of the character described-comprising in combination means 7 for placing the wires into the said machine,

common means for removing the insulation fiom said wires prior to splicing, a cutting device, locking means for said cutting device, a guide for the driving means arranged on the frame of the machine and actuating said locking means and neansfor releasing said locking means, causing the cutting device to return automatically to its inoperative 130- sition.

9. Cable splicing machine of the character described comprising in combination means for placing the WIIBS into the sand machine, common means for removing the-insulation from the said wires prior to splicing, aframe carrying the machine and adapted to be secured in a cable well, and supporting means for said frame whereon the frame is movably mounted.

10. Cable splicing machine of the character described comprising in combination means for placing the wires into the said machine, common means for removing the insulation from the said wires prior to splicing, a frame carrying the machine and means for displacing said splicing machine in the plane of the frame vertically and parallelly to the cable.

11. Cable splicing machine of the character described comprising in combination means for placing the wires into the said machine, common means for removing the insulation from said wires prior to splicing, a frame carrying the machine, means for vertically displacing said splicing machine in the plane of the frame and means for locking the said frame and machine against vertical displacement.

12. Cable splicing machine of the character described comprising incombination means for placing the wires into the said machine, common means for removing the insulation from said wires prior to splicing. a frame carrying the machine, means for displacing said splicing machine and a plurality of.

catches arranged on the cable for the moving oi. the said machine to the right and left and parallelly to the said cable.

13; Cable splicing machine of the character described comprising in combination means for placing the wires into the said machine,

common means for removing the insulation from said wires prior to splicing, a frame carrying the machine, means for displac ng said sphcing machine and a ball under spring 7 action serving as catch.

1 Cable splicing machine of the character described comprising in combmation means for placing the wires in o the machine,

coon for removing the insulation from the said prior to splicin a frame carrying the machine, means for displacing said splicing machine vertically in the plane of the frame and means forlifting the machine from the plane ofthe said frame.

15. Cable splicing machine of the character described, said machine having a cable well provided vwith holding rails and comprising in combination means for placing the wires into the said machine, common means for removing the insulation from said wires prior to splicing, a frame carrying the machine and including rails along which the body of themachine is movable, said rails serving as guides, means for displacing said splicing machine along said guiding rails, and means for adjusting the rails serving for the guiding of the machine in respect of the hcldin rails mounted in the cable well.

16. In a ca le splicing machine, means for 1 mounted for movement longitudinally of a" wire cable, means on the carriage for positioning pairs or wire ends in position for twisting together, winding tongues mounted on the carriage to engage and twist together the'wires cf the respective pairs, and insulation stripping means carried by said winding tongnes.

19*. a cable splicing machine, a carriage mounted for movement longitudinally of a wire cable, means on the carriage for positioning pairs of wire ends in position for twisting together, winding tongu es mounted on the carriage to engage and twist together the wires or the respective pairs, insulation stripping means carried by said winding tongues, means for cutting the wires to length prior to splicing, and means for cutting the spliced pairs of wires to predetermined len a cable splicing machine, means for posificning pairs of wire ends in the machine, winding tongues for engaging and twisting together the of the respective pairs, insnlation shipping means carried by said tongues, and gearing for simultaneously operating said winding tongues and thereby causing simnltanecns stripping of the insulah'on from at the wires.

I and gearing for simultaneously operating 21. In a cable splicing machine, a carriage mounted for movement longitudinally of a wire cable) means on the carriage for positioning pairs of wire ends in position for twisting together, winding tongues mounted on the carriage to engage and twist together the wires of the respective pairs, insulation stripping means carried by said winding tongues,

said winding tongues and thereby causing simultaneous stripping of the insulation from all the wires;

22. In a cable splicing machine, a winding tongue consistin of a pair of 'aws hinged together at one en to open an close, and eoacting insulation stripping knives carried by the free ends of said jaws.

23. In a cable splicing machine, a winding tongue consisting of a pair of jaws hinge together at one end to open and close, coacting insulation stripping knives carried by the free ends of saidjaws, and means to secure the knives adjustably on said jaws.

24. In a cable splicing machme, a windin tongue consisting of a pair of jaws hinge together at one end to open and close, coactmg insulation stripping knives carried by the free ends of said jaws, means to secure the knives adjustably on said jaws, and coacting latch means carried by saidjaws to secure the jaws releasably in closed position.

In testimony whereof we aifix our signatures.

PETER EUFINGER. QUANTE. 

